France Steps Up For New Orleans

Why haven't I heard about this in other papers? To figure out what the city needed, France sent its Ambassador to the US down to inspect the damage first-hand. French companies have given New Orleans $19.7 million in aid; the French government has donated 20 tons of emergency supplies and sent military divers to help clear the waterways. The French city of Orléans is letting college students displaced from New Orleans spend a year at the Université d'Orléans for free, not only waiving tuition fees but also paying for plane tickets and living expenses. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has pledged $180,000 to help French-oriented schools throughout Louisiana, and the town of Clermont Ferrand in central France donated $54,000 to rebuild New Orleans schools. France Louisiane, a Paris-based culture group, donated $48,000. Mayor Ray Nagin says France's efforts have been, quote, "awesome."

And now the French Minister of Culture, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, has visited New Orleans to announce cultural initiatives: the Louvre and other French museums will loan more than four dozen paintings to the New Orleans museum so it can host an exhibit to replenish its coffers; France will host a series of benefit concerts at which New Orleans musicians will play, so they can earn some money while helping raise funds to rebuild their city; and France will help rebuild the Tremé neighborhood, a historic seedbed of Creole culture. Now we just need to make sure the dispersed French Creole families come home...

"The French are part of our history, part of our soul, and now they are definitely part of our future." - Mayor Nagin